Fisker's Karma, a hybrid sports car, above, initially will cost about $89,000. The company also plans family sedans in the $40,000 range. (Photo by Agence France-Presse/Getty Images)
by Mark Silva
We hadn't had time until now to contemplate the loan that the U.S. government is giving a California-based company backed by former Vice President Al Gore that is building a hybrid sports car in Finland that will fetch about $89,000 a model.
The car is called Karma.
Gore, Nobel Prize-winning producer of An Inconvenient Truth, champion of the campaign against climate change and the candidate who collected the majority of the popular vote in the 2000 election for president, was among the first to put a down payment on one of the company's "green" - actually gun-metal gray in the promotional model -- cars, as the tale is told by the Wall Street Journal.
Fisker Automotive will draw a $529 million loan from the government, part of a $25 billion fund that Congress approved to spur development of fuel-efficient vehicles.
"Fisker's top investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, a veteran Silicon Valley venture-capital firm of which Gore is a partner,'' the Journal reports. "Employees of KPCB have donated more than $2.2 million to political campaigns, mostly for Democrats, including President Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks campaign contributions.''
The Department of Energy tells the Journal that Gore's involvement in the company had nothing to do with the loan - it was awarded on the merits of the design. And most of the loan will be used to finance U.S. production of a $40,000 family sedan that has yet to be designed, according to the agency, as the Journal tells the tale.
Another California startup that concentrates on all-electric vehicles, Tesla Motors, has secured a $465 million government loan to manufacture a $109,000 British-build roadster.
"This is not for average Americans," Leslie Paige, a spokeswoman for Citizens Against Government Waste, an anti-tax group in Washington, tells the Journal of the loans. "This is for people to put something in their driveway that is a conversation piece. It's status symbol thing."
DOE officials examined Fisker's application for months, the Journal reports. They toured its Irvine, Calif., and Pontiac, Mich., facilities and test-drove prototypes.
The Journal quotes Matt Rogers, who oversees the agency's loan programs as a senior adviser to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, as saying that Fisker got the loan after a "detailed technical review" that concluded the company could eventually deliver a highly fuel-efficient hybrid car to a mass audience.
"It's the ability to drive significant change in fuel economy across a large market segment" that sold the deal, Rogers said.
"Henrik Fisker, who designed cars for BMW, Aston Martin and Tesla before starting his Fisker Automotive in 2007, says his goal is to build the first plug-in electric hybrids that won't sacrifice the luxury, performance and looks of traditional gas-powered luxury cars,'' the Journal reports. "The Karma will target an exclusive audience -- Gore was one of the first to sign up for one.
"The four-door Karma, powered by a lithium-ion battery, will be able to run solely on electric power for 50 miles, and will achieve an average fuel economy of 100 mpg over the span of a year, the company says. Production is scheduled to start in December, with about 15,000 vehicles a year expected to hit the U.S. market starting next June.''
Kalee Kreider, a spokeswoman for Gore, confirmed that the former vice president backs Fisker and purchased a Karma.
"He believes that a global shift of the automobile fleet toward electric vehicles, accompanying a shift toward renewable-energy generation, represents an important part of a sensible strategy for solving the climate crisis," she said in a statement for the Journal report.
Fisker's loan comes from a $25 billion program established by Congress in 2007 to help auto makers invest in technology to meet a new congressional mandate for better fuel efficiency. In June, the DOE awarded the first $8 billion from the program to Ford Motor Co., Nissan Motor Co., and Tesla, which are all developing electric cars.
Comments
Why aren't these products being made here in America, especially if they are "green jobs" ? Let's get some of that "green" over here, after all, we are lending them the green !! If the market for these vehicles is going to be here, than they should be made in America, especially after lending them the green.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 28, 2009 10:34 AM
Money still runs the show. Gore continues to prove himself a self serving, get rich off the flavor of the day, thansk to a stupid American mentality and lack of real knowledge.
"The Karma will target an exclusive audience -- Gore was one of the first to sign up for one.
Posted by: springfield | September 28, 2009 10:40 AM
Congress approves these massive loans of tax dollars to companies producing cars that cost double the average annual income of American taxpayers.
Do they even wonder why we despise them or are they so blinded by their arrogance?
Posted by: Kathy | September 28, 2009 10:51 AM
"The Karma will target an exclusive audience -- Gore was one of the first to sign up for one.
Posted by: springfield | September 28, 2009 10:40 AM
I wanna Hummer!
Posted by: bill r. | September 28, 2009 10:52 AM
I'm on board with Gore's message, but he would set a better example by investing in technology and research that would first benefit the average person. Gore should be driving a Prius or touting the Chevy Volt.
Posted by: Grandblvd03 | September 28, 2009 11:10 AM
Our tax dollars going to Finnish workers to build a car only the wealthy elite can afford. That's fantastic.
Posted by: Herbie H. | September 28, 2009 11:13 AM
Why in the hell are we giving Al Gore a loan for anything?. This guys is worth over 100 million dollars. The whole state of affairs in this country are absolutely disgusting.
Posted by: Paul | September 28, 2009 11:34 AM
Silva,
Just curious why this was pertinent to the article: "Nobel Prize-winning producer of An Inconvenient Truth, champion of the campaign against climate change and the candidate who collected the majority of the popular vote in the 2000 election for president,"?
You forgot to mention that he dropped out from divinity school.
Posted by: Terry | September 28, 2009 11:35 AM
Gore bought a car. He doesn't own the company. He doesn't serve on the board. HE BOUGHT A CAR. He didn't get them the loan. HE BOUGHT A CAR. That's it.
What the hell is wrong with everybody?
Posted by: Lori | September 28, 2009 11:59 AM
This is a prime example of the folks in DC responding to lobbyists.
I thought that the Obama administration was going to create jobs in the US with stimulus money?
So much for reporting waste, fraud and abuse to Recovery.gov!
Posted by: Pat H | September 28, 2009 12:11 PM
He did more than just buy a car. He used his influence to secure a loan to a foreign manufacturer of a luxury "green" vehicle, as well as buying one himself. The point I believe of Silva's blogpost (and hence his listing of Gore's credentials) was to point out what appears to be a little bit of hypocritical behavior -- unless I have missed it all. As someone who supports Gore's message, I repeat, I think he could be setting a better example given his stature on the issue.
Posted by: Grandblvd03 | September 28, 2009 12:59 PM
Why aren't these products being made here in America, especially if they are "green jobs" ? Let's get some of that "green" over here, after all, we are lending them the green !! If the market for these vehicles is going to be here, than they should be made in America, especially after lending them the green.
SUPPORT OUR TROOPS, BRING THEM HOME, ALIVE AND WHOLE. NOW.
Posted by: Don Fitzgerald, IL | September 28, 2009 10:34 AM
You gotta stop smokin' that stuff donny! or maybe start reading the articles you post comments about.
Example from the above article: And most of the loan will be used to finance U.S. production of a $40,000 family sedan that has yet to be designed, according to the agency, as the Journal tells the tale.
That's US factories Don! But wait! there's more....
"DOE officials examined Fisker's application for months, the Journal reports. They toured its Irvine, Calif., and Pontiac, Mich., facilities and test-drove prototypes."
You do know that Irvine, California and Pontiac, Michigan are in the US, right?
Well, considering your rant being one of a more "negative" rant, dealing with your messiah's administration, you must be on the pipe today.
BRING TRANSPARENCY TO THE WHITE HOUSE AND CONGRESS, WHOLE AND TRUTHFUL, NOW!
Posted by: springfield | September 28, 2009 3:46 PM
@ Herbie H, get your facts straight:
Fisker is NOT a foreign manufacturer, it is an AMERICAN company based in Irvine, Ca.!
Fisker with this loan will be building a car in the US (creating 5000 AMERICAN jobs).
The loan is for the development and production of a car that costs NOT $89.000, but HALF OF THAT.
Posted by: Matt | September 28, 2009 4:02 PM
True, most of the $100K roadster is manufactured in the U.K. The battery pack is U.S.-made and final assembly is done here. The stimulus money is for the $50K sedan which will be manufactured in the U.S.
Posted by: Larry T | September 28, 2009 5:40 PM
Matt, I was talking about the "Karma" model. Is that not a model assembled in Finland? Costing 89K? Are you saying that none of the govt loan to Fisker is going to the production of the Karma? That's not accurate. Here's a link to Fisker's site saying that some of our tax dollars are going toward production of the Karma in Finland.
http://karma.fiskerautomotive.com/news_items
Posted by: Herbie H. | September 28, 2009 9:13 PM
Q: Why aren't these products being made here in America, especially if they are "green jobs" ?
A: Extravagant labor costs due to bloated and complacent auto workers' unions.
Posted by: The Crusty Curmudgeon | September 29, 2009 11:52 AM
Why can't these GoreMobile companies get a loan from a bank? Because no bank would be crazy enough to loan them that kind of money. That's why they go to the White House.
These GoreMobile companies exist simply to milk subsidies from their buddy in the White House.
The companies will end up selling 2 or 3 overpriced cars to 2 or 3 overpaid Hollywood actors, take the rest of our tax dollars, and run.
Posted by: Bruce | September 29, 2009 4:49 PM
In fact, Tesla loan and most of Fisker loan will finance less expensive sedans
68 percent of Fisker loan will finance manufacture of $39,900 "Project Nina" vehicles. According to a September 22 Department of Energy press release, $359.36 million of the $528.7 million loan will be used "for Fisker's Project Nina, involving the manufacture of a plug-in hybrid in the U.S. Fisker estimates that up to 75,000-100,000 of these highly efficient vehicles will roll off assembly lines in the U.S. every year beginning in late 2012." The remaining $169.3 million will be used "for engineering integration costs as [Fisker] works with primarily U.S. suppliers to complete the company's first vehicle," the $89,000 Fisker Karma. A September 22 Fisker Automotive Inc. press release states, "A majority of the more than $528 million in low-interest funds will go toward Project NINA, which will see the design, engineering and assembly of Fisker Automotive's next-generation plugin hybrids, starting at about $39,900 after tax credits."
Tesla loan will finance $49,900 Model S sedan, not $109,000 Roadster. According to a June 23 DOE press release, the loan "will finance a manufacturing facility for the Tesla Model S sedan" and the remaining funds "will support a facility to manufacture battery packs and electric drive trains to be used in Teslas and in vehicles built by other automakers." A June 23 Tesla press release states that the Model S has an "anticipated base price of $49,900" after the tax credit.
Source: http://mediamatters.org/research/200909280033
Fisker website
Tesla website
Posted by: Alan | September 30, 2009 6:51 AM